Jake and Marley: Vodka and Stars
by imasmartcookie
Summary: One of Two Parts Complete. Ryder and Marley broke up, but Jake doesn't know what happened. All he knows is that Marley drinks now, and he sees Ryder with Kitty. When he finds out why he could kill Ryder for hurting Marley, the girl he secretly loves. He has to protect her and make her feel worth something again.
1. Chapter 1

Marley walked across the football field with a bottle of vodka in her hand. It was easy enough to get, all she had to do was a little flirting with the cashier to distract him while she paid so he wouldn't ask for her ID. Marley wasn't drunk, she had only taken a few shots at a bar with Santana a couple blocks away from the store where she bought the vodka, but she was planning to get drunk. She thought that maybe her feelings would go numb and she would feel better, at least feel better tonight. Marley walked to the middle of the bleachers and laid down, looking up at the stars as she put the vodka down on the next bleacher seat. Marley let a tear roll down her face as she grabbed the vodka and took a sip, letting it burn it's way down her throat. She set the bottle back down and continued looking at the stars.

* * *

Jake knew Marley was hurting, all because of that ass who dumped her. So when drove to Santana's house, he wasn't surprised to hear that the two had been drinking together. They'd been doing that a lot lately, so he walked to Santana's house to see if Marley was there. That was how Marley was dealing with all of this, by drinking, and he had tried to convince her to stop but she only got angry and yelled at him. He was surprised however when Santana asked why she wasn't with him.

"What are you talking about, Santana?"

"Look, she said she was going over to your place because she felt bad for yelling at you the other day. She said that she wanted to apoligize to you." "When did she leave?"

"About a half hour ago."

"I only left my house five minutes ago, she would've been there by now."

"Well, I have no idea where she is. But, she did mumble something about school before she left, I wasn't paying attention." When Santana said that Jake knew exactly where Marley was.

"Thanks, Santana. I've gotta go."

"Whatever." Santana said as she slamed the door. She was obviously mad that Jake wasted her time, he didn't care, though. He needed to see Marley before she got hurt or hurt someone else. He got in his car and drove to the school, the bleachers to more precise. When he parked, he saw Marley laying on the bleacher's with something in her hand. He ran across the footbal field and walked up to the first row of bleachers. Marley was at least ten more rows up and when he got there he saw she had a half full bottle of vodka.

"Marley." Jake said hoping to catch Marley's attention, and he did.

Marley jumped a little when she heard Jake's voice.

"Damn, Jake. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Marley why are you drinking?" Marley looked at him, still laying down, and let out a humorless laugh.

"Because I am worthless."

"No you aren't Marley, put the bottle down."

"Fine." Marley threw the bottle a few feet away from Jake and it broke.

"What the hell, Marley?!"

"Whoops." Marley said sarcastically. Jake walked up to where Marley was and sat down.

"Marley you can't do this to yourself. Especially not over that ass hole, Ryder."

"I'm not doing this because I still love him, I hate him. I'm doing this because the way he made and the way he makes me feel."

"How does he make you feel, Marls?" Jake said scooting closer to Marley, grabbing he legs and putting them across his lap. Marley let a few tears fall down her face.

"Like I'm nothing. Like I can't offer this world anything, like I'm worthless and no one will ever love me. He made me feel used." Jake hated hearing Marley say she felt this way, he hated hearing that the girl he loved felt this way.

Jake wasn't there when they broke up and Marley didn't really tell anyone what happened. All Jake knew was he saw Marley and Ryder walking down the hallway holding hands one day, and the next it was Ryder and Kitty.

"What happened? What did he do to make you feel like that?" Marley removed her legs from Jake's lap and sat up. Jake looked into her beautiful blue eyes that were filled with tears.

"Jake, I don't want anyone but you to know. Do you promise me you won't tell a soul. My mom doesn't even know, and you can't tell her." At the moment Jake would promise her anything, just so he could know what wrong so he could fix it.

"I won't tell. But, if I have to beat Ryder's ass I will." Marley smiled when Jake said that.

"Thank you. But, I don't think hitting him will change anything now." Jake took Marley's hand in his own and looked at her reassuringly.

"Tell me what happened."

"When he first asked me out I was surprised. I didn't think anyone like him would like me." Marley stopped talking and looked out into the football field. "What happened, Marls" Marley still wouldn't look Jake in the eye.

"We dated for a while and he made me feel good about myself. Told me I was beautiful, amazing and kind, and smart and that I had a great voice. He was even nice to my mom."

"What went wrong?" Jake said, he was curious as to why what seemed like the perfect relationship went bad.

"A few weeks after we started dating, we were at his house studying..." Marley said looking down before continuing. "...and he kissed me, and kissed me. When he stopped I laughed and said that we should be studying."

* * *

_Ryder kissed Marley then pulled away from her. _

_"Ryder we need to study." Marley said laughing. _

_"Okay, you win." Ryder said taking his seat across from Marley on his bed. An hour later Ryder couldn't think anymore. _

_"Marley, my brain hurts. Can we take a break?" _

_"Sure, what do you want to do?" Marley said closing her school books and pushing them aside. _

_"This." Ryder sad before leaning in and kissing her. She laid back on his bed._

* * *

"Marley you didn't." Jake said looking at Marley once she told him some of what happened.

"No. I didn't" Marley as she looked at Jake for the first time since she began talking. There were fresh tears in her eyes and on her face.

"Is that why he broke up with you?" Jake said wiping a few of the tears that were streaming down her face

"Yes. It turned out that was all he wanted."

* * *

_Ryder was still kissing Marley and started tugging on her shirt. _

_"Ryder stop." Marley said pushing his hand away. _

_"Why?" Ryder said going to kiss her neck. Marley pushed him off of her and sat up. _

_"I'm not ready, Ryder." Ryder sat up too and continued kissing Marley's neck. _

_"Come on, babe." Marley pushed Ryder off once again. _

_"No, Ryder. I don't want to, I'm not ready." Ryder stood up, Marley could tell he was angry. _

_"Why not? I have needs and if you're my girlfriend you have to fullfil them." Marley stood up too. _

_"I don't have to do anything. I'm not ready, can't you respect that." Ryder walked around Marley and picked up her books. _

_"Get out." Marley didn't know what was going on. _

_"What?" _

_"Get out. We're done." Ryder threw Marley's books at her feet. Marley let a tear roll down her face before picking up her books and leaving._

* * *

"Marley, I am so sorry. Why do you feel worthless though?"

"Because of what happened at school the next day."

* * *

_Marley walked up to Ryder who was standing at his locker. _

_"Hey, Ryder. Can we talk?" _

_"Why?" _

_"I-I just wanted to see where your head was at. After last night." _

_"My head is in the exact same place it was yesterday. My friends said you'd be easy to crack, but they were wrong. They said if I told you nice things and was nice to your mom, you would sleep with me in no time. That sure as hell didn't work." _

_"W-w-what?" _

_"All I wanted from you was sex. It was harder than I thought. Just get away from me, you're pathetic and not worth my time." Just then Kitty walked up to them. _

_"Hey, babe." She said kissing him on the lips. _

_"Kitty, here is worth my time. At least she's not poor." _

_"I-I thought you loved me." _

_"Yeah, right. You. Are. Worthless. You're disgusting, why would anyone love you?" _

_"Unless they're blind. You're going to end up just like you're mother." Kitty added stepping a little closer to Marley. _

_"Was any of it real?" Marley said looking past Kitty at Ryder. _

_"No, I just wanted to get in your pants." Marley felt the tears coming to her eyes, she turned and started running towards the door._

* * *

"That's why I feel worthless." Marley said as she looked doen and cried silently. Jake pulled Marley into a hug and let her cry on his shoulder.

"I'm going to kill him."

"Jake, don't. He'll still be an ass. I don't care about him anymore, the only thing that bothers me is the way he made me feel that day and the way I feel whever I see him with Kitty."

"Everything is going to be okay, Marls. I promise." Jake said kissing her forehead.

"Thanks, Jake." Marley said. Jake stood up, grabbed Marley's hand, and walked down the bleachers into the football field. He laid down in the grass.

"Come here." he said as he patted the ground next to him. Marley laid next to Jake with her head on his chest, he was playing with her hair.

"One day Marls you'll get out of here and you will inspire people with your voice. All these little people won't matter anymore."

Marley was still buzzed from the drinking and was tired, she sleepily said "Only if you come with me."

Then she shivered from the cold. Jake sat up and took of his jacket before laying it over her. Marley thanked him before falling asleep in his arms. About twenty minutes later Jake saw that Marley had dozed off, so he carefully picked her up bridal style and carried her to his car. He gently laid her in the back seat and shut the door, then he got in and started the car. Jake knew that Marley's mom knew she had been getting drunk and was worried about her, so on the way home he called her.

_"Hello?"_ Millie answered, he could tell she was tired.

"I'm sorry, Ms Rose. Did I wake you? It's Jake."

_"No, no Jake. I was just waiting up for Marley. Have you seen her?"_

"She's with me. She drank again tonight and I found her at the school bleachers."

_"Is she okay?"_

"She's okay. She told me what happened with Ryder and it's pretty bad."

_"What happened?"_

"She asked me not to tell you, I think she'll tell you soon. I don't want to betray her trust."

_"I understand. It's nothing too bad I hope."_

"Nothing I can't take care of."

_"Thank you, Jake. Is she around?"_

"She fell asleep and I thought I'd call and tell you, plus I wanted to ask you something."

_"Okay, what is it?"_

"I was wondering if I could take Marley to my house. She was still upset when she fell asleep and I want to make sure that she's okay tomorrow. I know you have to go into the lunch room to prepare Monday's lunch and I didn't want her to be alone."

_"That's fine, Jake. I trust you and so does she, just take care of my angel."_

"I will. Get some sleep, I'll have her call you tomorrow."

_"Thank you, so much. I don't know what she would do without a friend like you."_

"Yeah, a friend like me." Jake said thinking about he desperately wanted to be more than that to Marley.

_"Goodnight, Jake."_

"Night, Ms Rose."

Jake hung up the phone and put it in his pocket. He glanced back at Marley and saw that she was still sleeping. When he pulled up to his house he noticed his mom's car wasn't there. Jake walked to the backseat and took Marley out of the car, she had woken up a bit by the time he got her out of the car.

"Jake I'm tired." Marley said with her eyes closed, her head rested on Jake's shoulder and her arms wrapped around his neck.

"I know, Marls"

"Where are we?" She said still holding onto him.

"We're at my house."

"What about my mom?"

"She knows. Don't worry about it, or anything. Just go back to sleep." Jake was carrying her bridal style to his room.

When he got to his room he laid her on the bed, then he went to his closet to grab her some clothes. Jake found her one of his shirts and a pair of his sweats. Jake walked over to the bed and wasn't sure how to do this. He didn't want Marley to wake up and think he was a creep for changing her clothes, but he remembered how many times she expressed that she hated sleeping in day wear. I mean it's not like he hasn't seen her in a bikini, but he was in love with her. How could that not be weird? He decided it was best for him to put the clothes on her. Marley was wearing a dress and a cardigan, Jake gently took the cardigan off of her the saw the zipper for her dress. He carefully slid the zipper down, thankful that she hadn't woke up. Then he slid the straps off her arm and slowly, and gently pulled the dress down her body, revealing her undergarments. Jake thought her body looked beautiful and he wondered why she ever felt insecure, she was gorgeous. He ahook the thoughts from his mind and set the dress next to her on the bed along with the cardigan. Jake then took the tee and slid it on her, he grabbed the sweatpants and pulled them up her legs. Jake loved her legs, but he couldn't get distracted. It was weird enough that he was changing the clothes of the girl that he was secretly in love with. Jake picked Marley up and laid her at the top of the bed, he then pulled the covers over her. He grabbed an extra blanket and pillow out of his closet and headed towards the door.

"Goodnight, Marley." Jake said before walking out the door and down the stairs only to see his mom pulling up in the driveway. Jake's mom knew that Jake liked Marley and Jake was trying to figure out how to explain the situation. His mom knew about the break up and felt bad for Marley.

"Hey, Jake." His mom said walking through the door.

"Hi, mom."

"Why are you sleeping on the couch?"

"Marley's in my bed."

"What? Why?"

"You know how I told you she's been getting drunk because of the break up with that idiot Ryder?"

"Yeah."

"Well I found her tonight, at school, with half a bottle of vodka."

"Oh my. Is she okay?"

"She told me what happened and I could kick Ryder's ass."

"What happened?"

"She asked me not to tell."

"Okay, but what about her mom?"

"I called her and everything is good. I just feel terrible for her."

"I know you do, I can see that you care for her. She's a sweet girl, just don't take advantage of that."

"I won't, Mom. She's amazing, but she wouldn't go for someone like me." Jake's mom walked up and gave him a hug.

"There is nothing wrong with you. She'd be lucky to have you"

"And I'd be lucky to have her. So it's okay if she stays. right?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I have to go to work early tomorrow so I probably won't be here when you wake up."

"Okay. Goodnight, ma. I love you."

"Night, hun. Take care of her."

"I will." Jake said before laying on the couch and falling asleep. Tomorrow he was going to have fun with Marley, and make her feel worth something, because to him she was _everything_. He was going to show her how special she was.


	2. Chapter 2

7000 words! I _finally_ got this done. I'm sorry for the wait, but I rewrote things multiple times and then got stuck and even now I don't like the ending and I may come back and change it sometime later. But, for now, I hope you enjoy this and I'm working on both _Escaping_ and _Be Mine Forever_ and I'm trying to make longer chapters and I'm stuck a little bit so I hope I can ger them up by this weekend or during this weekend. If you haven't read them please do so :) and check out the other one shots. I also have a ton of one shots on my laptop that aren't completely finished but almost done so look out for those on here and on my tumblr which is ilovejarley. Thank you for reading! Review, please.

* * *

Marley woke up and realized she wasn't at home, she took a look around and saw that she was in Jake's room, she was lying in Jake's bed, which she noted smelled like him. Her head was pounding from her hangover, but she didn't care, she just wanted to figure out why she was at Jake's house. She tried to remember what happened last night but only got bits and pieces, she remembered drinking and going to the school, drinking more, and talking to Jake. She thought a little more and realized she told him about Ryder.

_Oh my god! Why did I tell Jake? Of all people, why did it have to be Jake?_

Marley felt like an idiot for telling him, she was already humilated enough that all the cheerleaders and jocks knew. She didn't remember anything after telling him, she slowly got out of his bed and took notice to the fact that she wasn't wearing her clothes anymore. She was wearing Jake's clothes. Marley saw her dress and cardigan on top of the dresser and picked them up. She changed into her clothing from yesterday and walked downstairs, she saw a blanket folded on the couch with a pillow on top of it. Had she taken Jake's bed? Marley heard some noises in the kitchen and walked towards it, when she got closer and the noises got louder, her head started hurting worse. When she walked into the kitchen she saw Jake making something. She took a seat on a stool and rubbed her head, Jake turned around and saw her.

"Here, take this. It'll make the pain go away." Jake put a pill and a water bottle in front of her.

"Thanks." Marley swallowed the pill and looked up, Jake was sitting across from her.

"Are you hungry?" Jake asked as he put some food on a plate and offered it to her.

Marley shook her head, causing more pain to come to it. "No, I feel like I'm going to throw up."

"The pill will help that too." Jake took a bite of his food after he responded.

"Where's your mom?"

"She left for work."

"I should probably be going home now." Marley stood up and Jake grabbed her hand.

"No, wait."

Marley turned back to Jake. "What?"

Jake gave her his Marley smile. "You're spending the day with me."

"Says who?" Marley gave him a confused look as she gently pulled her arm away.

"Me. Now what do you say? We'll have fun, I prmomise." Jake have her his best sad face paired with his puppy dog eyes. No way she could resist that.

"What about my mom?" Marley said hopefully, it wasn't anything personal against Jake. She didn't really want to be around anyone except for maybe Santana. She just wanted to work on her homework, cry, and sleep. Santana would take her out again if she asked and right now she wanted to drink some more. Plus, there was no way her mom would let her spend a day with Jake, right?

"She said it was okay."

Damn her luck. "I still have to go home and change." She was still trying to find an excuse out of this, she felt like she wouldn't really be good company today and would probably be rude in some way to Jake and he didn't deserve that. He was just trying to help her, after all she had spilled her secret to him last night.

Jake stood up and grabbed his keys, he took Marley's hand and led her to the door. "Well we should probably go then."

Jake and Marley were in Jake's car driving to Marley's house, neither speaking a word. Marley spoke up first. "Jake, I'm sorry for putting all of my problems on you last night. It wasn't fair to you. We should just forget about it."

"Marley please don't do that."

"Do what?"

"I care about you and you can tell me anything. I don't want you to shut me out because you're sober."

"I'm sorry, I just don't want to talk about it anymore."

"I'm not going to make you." Jake and Marley both got out of the car and went into Marley's house. Jake knew it was going to take some time to make Marley feel better and today was just going to be them, two friends having fun to forget about their problems. As long as he was around he was going to make sure Marley knew how beautiful she was every day. He was going to make sure that she didn't listen to the kids who told her horrible lies about herself and make sure she knew how special she was.

"I'm going to go get a shower, I should be done in less than twenty minutes. Help yourself to anything." Marley walked up the stairs and into the bathroom, she took a shower and grabbed a towel. After wrapping it around herself, she walked across the hall and into her bedroom to get dressed.

Jake sat down to wait for Marley. He heard a door open and he looked up, he saw Marley walk into her room with just a towel. She thankfully hadn't noticed him looking. Jake thought she looked really great and for a moment he got lost in his thoughts until he snapped out of it and played a game on his phone.

Marley wore a pair of jeans and a loose fitting top. She walked downstairs and Jake looked up when he heard her. "So now what?" She let out a sigh and crossed her arms over body. Looking in the mirror in her bedroom before she came downstairs was a bad idea, her insecurities were starting to rise.

Jake noticed Marley getting a little tense, but decided against saying anything. He knew she would brush it off. "We're going to have fun. Anything specific that you want to do?" He stood up and walked towards the door as he spoke over his shoulder. "We could go get some coffee from the Lima Bean, I know I'll need some and then we can go anywhere we want."

Marley followed him out the door and to the car. "I'm not in the mood for coffee."

Jake chuckled. "I'll get coffee and you can get a bottle of water or two, you need it." On the way to the Lima Bean Jake kept the radio low. Which Marley was thankful for considering her headache was still there, but going away. She spent most of the time looking out the window. When they arrived at their destination, they walked in together.

Marley was standing in line with Jake when she saw Ryder sitting in the corner giving her an evil smile with a couple of Cheerios and a few football players. Marley felt the tears coming to her eyes as Jake moved forward to order he didn't notice she had turned around and made her way to leave until she bumped into someone. Kitty. "Oh, well look who it is. I'm surprised you didn't knock me over. Looks as if you've gained some more weight since the last time I saw you." By this time, Jake had paid and heard Kitty talking. He walked towards Marley to help her but he could see the damage was already done. "Are you shoving pounds of food down your throat to cope with the fact that you're not good enough for anyone?" Jake tried to get Marley to move but she stayed there, taking it in like she actually deserved it. Almost as if she needed to hear it. "I had no idea that spandex stretched that much, now could you get out of my way butterball, I want to go see my boyfriend." Kitty nudged Marley shoulder as she passed with a smile on her face. Jake heard all of the other people sitting with Ryder laughing and he saw tears streaming down Marley's face, yet she was still. It wasn't until he made her walk that she actually moved from her spot.

When they got out side Jake took Marley to the window of the store next to the Lima Bean. "Jake where are we going?" She was still crying. "I have to show you something." He stopped her in front of the window and noticed the way she looked at the ground. He stood behind her and made her look at her reflection. "You see that girl right there?" He pointed to Marley's reflection, when she didn't speak he continued. "She's so beautiful and has so much going for her. She let some idiots get in her head, so she can't see it." Marley had stopped crying by then. "She doesn't understand how special she is, but I can see it all. She's my friend and it hurts me so badly to see her believe what people say about her because they're jealous. They're jealous because they won't ever be half as stunningly brilliant as you are. I can see everything, her beauty and talent but all she sees is imperfections." Marley was looking at herself by now. "When she smiles it lights up a room and her laugh is contagious. I wish that she could see it. I wish that she could see what I see."

Marley had a small, sad smile on her face. "Thank you Jake."

Jake smiled widely at her. "Anytime you need me to tell you _any_ of those things, whether its because someone said something to you or just because you want to hear it, just call me and I'll gladly repeat any and all of it. Any time, any day."

Marley had turned around and gave him a hug. "Okay, where to now?"

"We can do whatever you want." Jake walked with Marley to his car as he handed her a water bottle.

"Thanks." Marley took the bottle and drank a bit. "I don't want to see any of those people." She paused and thought for a minute. "Anywhere I want to go?" Marley smiled at him before she turned the station on the radio.

"Anywhere."

"Can we go to that park that's like ten minutes outside of town and has that really amazing pond?"

"Yeah, I know where that is."

Jake and Marley drove for a little bit, stopping at the store to buy some snacks and some bread to feed the ducks that were always around the pond. When they got to the park they sat on a bench close to the water and gave bread to the ducks. They were having fun and laughing and Marley couldn't think of a better way to spend her day. Jake took off his signature leather jacket and put it on the bench between them. Marley grabbed it and stood up she put it on and started walking away from him. "I think I'm going to steal this from you."

Jake laughed softly at Marley's actions. "Really? You're attempting to steal the signature jacket of Jake Puckerman." Jake stood up, making Marley laugh, and started walking towards her.

"I'm stealing it right now. You're going to have to come get it if you want it back." When he started walking she sped up and started running, Jake following behind her. After chasing Marley for a few minutes he caught up to her and grabbed her, causing them to fall with him on top of her. Both of them were laughing so hard there were tears coming out of their eyes.

After their laughter died out Marley noticed Jake was still on top of her. Jake was looking at her, but there was a something different in his eyes. His hand held her face. "You're really beautiful."

Marley blushed and smiled, ducking her head away from him to hide it. "I wonder when I'll believe you." And it was true, she didn't believe him, not just yet. But, at the same time he seemed so sincere and she wished that she could see herself in his eyes.

Jake rolled off of Marley and onto the ground next to her. He looked over at her and smiled. "You can keep the jacket. It looks better on you anyways." Marley was looking at the sky before he spoke and when he did she turned her head to see him, she chuckled and spoke. "I was joking." She slipped the jacket off, and lifted her body up to get it completely off. She noticed that when she handed it back to Jake, she was no longer surrounded by the scent his jacket carried. They laid there for a while, guessing what the clouds shapes were and just talking, of course Jake had told her numerous times throughout the conversation about her beauty. He used gorgeous, mesmerizing, beautiful, sexy (which made her blush like crazy), ravishing, stunning, radiant and many other words that made her blush. She had no idea how someone could see her like that. When they were both hungry, they left the park and drove around the small town they were in to find somewhere to eat. Marley spotted a small diner that looked nice and they both agreed on that it seemed like a nice place to eat. After they ordered they shared random memories with each other and were laughing so hard that the small amount of people in the diner were starting to stare.

Once they finished eating, they paid, left and made their way to Jake's car. "So do you want to go home? I can take you if you'd like but I'm having fun and I'd like to spend some more time with you."

Marley smiled as she got in and shut the door. "Well considering that we'd both be going home to empty houses, I _guess_ I'll spend the rest of the day with you."

Jake started the car and got on the main highway to take them back to Lima. He could hear the teasing tone in her voice and smiled back. "You guess?"

"I'm kidding. This is the most fun I've had in a while." Marley reached out to get to the radio turned the stations until she found some music they both liked.

"I'm glad. You should have fun and I'm happy that you're having fun with me." Getting off the highway, Jake debated on which road to take not knowing whether or not she wanted to hang out at his house or hers. "Who's house do you want to go to? Mine or yours?"

"We could go to my house." Marley shrugged.

"The Rose household it is." Jake laughed and made the turn to go to her house.

Marley grabbed her key out of her pocket and walked to her front door with Jake following. Once she opened it she told Jake that he could come up to her room. Marley sat on her bed and Jake sat down next to her, he faced her before he said, "You can tell a lot about a person from their room. But yours is just like a top layer. I want to know more."

She looked around her room for a moment before her eyes settled back on him. "Now, why would you want that?"

Jake smiled. "Because."

"Because why?"

"Just because I do. Now tell me anything and everything."

"My life story is pretty long and I don't think I want to tell it."

"Then can I pretty please see something. Memories, photos anything." Jake, for the second time today, gave Marley his best puppy dog eyes.

Marley sighed. "I'll show you a few things, but that's all you're getting." She stood up and went to her closet. She pulled a medium sized box off the shelf and brought it over to her bed, she sat across from Jake and put the box in between them. "This is all you get to see." She opened the box and inside were many things. Jake picked up a small box and opened it, there were pictures in it. There were pictures. One had Marley who looked around the age of four, her mom and a man, who Jake assumed was her dad. He turned it around and showed it to her and pointed to the man. "Is this your dad?" Marley nodded and he handed the picture to her. "He died a couple years ago."

"I'm so sorry, Marley."

"It's okay, you didn't know." Marley spoke to the picture instead of Jake and she put it down on her bed. She got up and walked around her bed so she could sit next to Jake. They went through the pictures and Marley explained who the people were. They got to the bottom of the small box of pictures and Jake furrowed his eyebrow, there was a small frame with a picture on it but it was ripped. It looked as if it had been torn into over fifty pieces then was put back together like a puzzle. It was a picture of Marley and her dad, she looked to be about twelve or thirteen and Jake looked over to her. She carefully ran her fingers over the frame. "This is the last picture we took together, it was a little over a month before he died. I got so upset after he had passed that I destroyed my room and when I found this picture I tore it up then after I was calmed down I found all the pieces and put it back together in this frame." Jake let her take the picture from him and she smiled down at it. He saw a drop of water appear on it and looked at Marley's face to see that she was shedding a few tears. He wiped them off and gave her a sad smile and a hug, she stopped crying and they resumed looking through the box. There were letters from a friend that they'd sent after she moved, but she said they never really kept in touch too long. He wondered why they would write letters and when he asked her she said it was her friend's idea because she always told Marley she wanted to be a writer and letters would help her keep writing. In the box were some birthday cards and a teddy bear that Marley's father had bought when she was born. Jake figured that she had it harder than he did. He never knew his father and didn't want to after what he had heard about him so it was easy to hate him. But Marley's dad was there for her for everything and from the pictures it looked like they were close and he was just taken away from her? Jake would never understand it. He continued looking through the box and found some things she was given from friends and old journals she had written, which were taken from him so fast he couldn't even comprehend it. There were other small items in the box that represented something special to her, once they finished Marley put it back into her closet.

She came back and sat with Jake. "So have you learned anything about me?" Jake nodded his head but didn't speak. "Okay, good." Marley checked the time on her phone. "My mom will be home soon, so if you have somewhere to be you can go."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Jake gasped.

"No, I'm not I just figured that your mom might want you home soon. I know she works a lot and likes to spend time with you when she can."

"She won't be home until way later. But, I should probably go, I have homework." Jake stood and walked towards Marley's door.

"No, wait. Since your mom won't be home for a while why don't you stay for dinner. I'm sure my mom won't care and we can go get your books and do our homework together."

Jake smiled. "Okay. I will go pick up my books from my house. Give me ten or fifteen minutes?" Marley nodded and Jake left the house.

She put all the books she would need on her bed and went downstairs to get something to drink. When she heard a knock on the door, she quickly walked to it with her water bottle and apple in hand and opened it to find Jake with his backpack. She moved aside to let him come in. "Do you want anything before we get started?"

"I'm good. But thank you."

"Let's get started then." Marley and Jake walked upstairs and worked on their homework until Marley's mom arrived home. Marley went downstairs to give her a hug and ask her if it was okay for Jake to stay for dinner. Millie agreed and Marley asked if she needed any help with dinner. After her mom declined she told her that she and Jake were going to finish up their homework.

"Are we done yet?" Marley asked as she put aside a paper they had just finished.

"Yes, we are." Jake laughed and Marley laid back on her bed.

"Finally." Millie called them down for dinner so they went downstairs and Jake insisted on helping Millie, so she had no choice but to agree. Marley enjoyed having Jake over for dinner even if she had to sacrafice a couple of embarrasing childhood memories in exchange. Jake grabbed his books afterward and Marley walked him to the door to say goodbye.

"I had fun today, Jake."

"Me too, we should definitely do this again. My mom will be home soon so I should go." Jake gave her a hug before he left her home and walked to his car.

Marley smiled and waved as he drove away and went back inside the house. She stayed downstairs for a while talking with her mother about everything that happened to her, including the thing that happened with Ryder and she apologized for doing the things she had been doing. Her and her mom had a mother/daughter moment and Millie forgave her and told her that she was glad that Jake was around to help. After a little while, Marley went upstairs to her room and her phone vibrated multiple times. She picked it up and saw that she had gotten twenty three text messages over the last half an hour and still counting, all from Ryder. She opened the texts and immediately felt tears coming to her eyes.

_"You and Puckerman really? You stooped so low to that loser."_

_"You're good for nothing."_

_"You sleeping around?"_

_"Slut."_

_"You're not worth anyone's time."_

_"Kitty is a million times better."_

_"I think you have gained weight."_

_"Better watch your back and Puckerman's tomorrow."_

_"Puked your guts out yet today?"_

At that point Marley had stopped reading them.

_"Please leave me alone Ryder."_

She felt the urge to go out and drink to make it all go away. But she had promised her mother she wouldn't do that anymore. The texts came faster than she could keep track of, and so were the tears. Her hands shaking, she fought the urge and quickly tapped on Jake's contact and called him. It rang for a moment until she heard his voice. "Marley? What's up?"

Marley took in a wobbly breath and gripped her phone tighter. "I-I..." She lost her words as a sob came from her mouth.

"Marley? Are you okay?" Jake's voice was panicked and Marley shook her head even though he couldn't see her.

"C-can you come o-over to my h-house?" She said taking in short breaths as more tears and sobs came.

Jake sounded like he was moving around. "Of course. What's going on?"

"Can you please just c-come over."

"I'll be there in five minutes." Jake explained everything to his mom and she understood that he needed to go. She told him to take his time and to careful.

Marley hung up the phone and set it down. She walked to the top of the stairs after taking a couple of deep breaths and called down to her mom, asking if Jake could come back over because there was an assignment she needed help with that she forgot about. Once she was given approval she told her mother that he could just come upstairs. Marley didn't want to risk her mother seeing her cry and become worried about her. Jake came up to her room after he spoke with her mom for a moment, he didn't tell her that Marley had been crying because he could tell she didn't know. When he walked into her bedroom, Marley was sitting on her bed looking at her phone. He went and sat next to her and saw tear streaks on her face. "Hey, what's going on?" She looked up at Jake and handed him her phone. He started reading the texts and she started crying harder. He felt himself fill with rage at the horrible things he was reading. Who did Ryder think he was? He just threatened Marley and that wasn't happening with Jake around. His anger was pushed away when he felt Marley shake next to him. He pulled her into a hug and let her cry for a moment. "Jake?" Marley asked as she sat up straight, still crying.

"What is it?"

"Do you think that you can tell me those things you said earlier again?"

"Absolutely."

Marley pulled Jake back to lay on her bed and she cried quietly against his chest. He was rubbing her head as he spoke. "You're beautiful, Marley and you can't believe a word they say." He pulled her head up and looked into her eyes to show her how serious he was. "You're too amazing to believe them." After telling her many encouraging things for almost an hour, she had stopped crying. "Thank you, Jake. I don't know what I would've done without you here." He smiled and Marley's mom called them down for dinner. Marley nose wasn't red anymore and the puffiness had gone down in her eyes. "Call me if you get anymore texts, okay?"

She gave him a small smile. "I will, I promise. I think I'm just going to turn my phone off for the rest of the night."

Jake smiled back at her. "That's probably a good idea. How about I come pick you up for school tomorrow?"

Marley nodded her head before she watched Jake turn and walk to his car. She gave her mom a hug and kiss goodnight before she went upstairs to get into her bed, which still smelled like Jake.

Marley was putting her books into her backpack when Jake knocked on the door. When she turned on her phone this morning, it vibrated over and over as she received all the texts she would have if she left her phone on last night. Even if she was a little upset from the texts she had read this morning, she answered the door with a smile and gave him a hug before she told him to hang on for a minute. After she gathered the rest of her books and her phone, she walked with Jake outside to his car, he opened the passengers side door for her and then got in the drivers side. When they got to school, Jake stayed by Marley's side because he was afraid that Ryder would have Kitty do or say something to her. He was still angry about the texts Ryder had sent her last night and he thought that if he saw him he wouldn't be able to control what he would do. Marley did not, in any way, deserve to be talked to like that and if Jake had his way, Ryder would regret doing so. Jake walked Marley to her classes and they decided to meet at the cafeteria to eat lunch together. He was walking from his locker to the cafeteria when he saw Ryder at his locker. Jake felt all the anger he pushed aside the night before coming back to him. He walked up to Ryder and pushed him. "What the hell Puckerman!?" Ryder said as he walked back to Jake and shoved him.

Jake took another step forward and got close to Ryder's face. "What the hell is the matter with you? Where do you get off texting those horrible things to Marley?" He pushed Ryder again and watched him stumble on his feet, but he got up quickly and shoved Jake again. "Oh look who's coming to her rescue. Do you actually think she'll go for someone like you?" Ryder laughed. "She wouldn't give it up to me but she's giving it to everyone else. I heard that she was sleeping with one of those losers in the chess club. Oh and lets not forget the kid in band and th-" Jake cut Ryder off with a punch right in the nose Ryder stood up with his nose dripping blood and threw a punch at Jake and another until Jake got back on his feet and knocked the boy over. He punched him a couple of times before Ryder was able to flip Jake over and hit him. Jake knocked him into the lockers and hit him in the face until he heard Marley scream for them to stop. When he let go, Ryder fell to the ground and Marley quickly dragged Jake down the hall, his head hurt and he felt blood on his face.

He felt Marley take his arm and put it around her shoulder. She walked as fast as she could while helping an injured Jake stay on his feet. She let Jake lean against the lockers nearby as she walked into the nurses office to sneak some supplies, not that the nurse was in there anyway. Marley knew that when Ryder was able to get up, he'd go there and she didn't want to risk Jake getting hurt again. She had the supplies in one arm and Jake on the other as she walked towards the door that led outside behind the school. She helped Jake sit down on a picnic table before she did the same. "Jake, are you okay?" He nodded. Marley wiped at his bloody lip with rubbing alcohol as he winced. She flickered her eyes between his lip and his eyes. After cleaning his lip, she moved to clean up his nose. "You're nose doesn't look broken, just bruised so it'll probably hurt like hell for a couple of days." Marley got all of the blood off of Jake's face and she moved to his knuckles, cleaning them before wrapping them in gauze. "Why were you fighting with Ryder?"

Jake avoided her eyes after her question until she forced him to look at her by placing her hand on his cheek. "I, uh..." He didn't want her to feel bad because she was the reason he decided to kick Ryder's ass, but he could tell by the look on her face that she already knew. "Marley, he shouldn't have said those things to you last night. He deserved a hell of a lot more than what he got."

Marley sat down next to Jake and sighed. "You shouldn't have done that. I don't like when you're hurt."

He turned towards Marley and said, "I don't like it when that asshole makes you cry. You shouldn't have to deal with what he says because they're all lies."

Marley turned her head away from him and kept her head down as she spoke. "Yeah, lies."

Jake took Marley's face in his hands and gently made her face him, but when he did she refused to meet his eyes. "Marley look at me." She slowly led her eyes to look into his and when she did he spoke again. "Nothing he said was true, you're beautiful and thin and you're not a slut. Any guy would be lucky to have you and if they can't see it them they can go fuck themselves. I know that when they say things over and over again to you it starts to seem true, but you have to know they're wrong because you know yourself. Marley you are a million times more talented and more gorgeous than anyone in this stupid school. All of these kids will be stuck here for their entire lives, Lima losers, but you're going somewhere. You're going somewhere better than this place and when you get there, you're going to forget all about the people who gave you hell in high school. They'll be nothing but a memory." Marley stared into his eyes with tears welling in her own. For a second, she let herself everything believe everything he said was true and as the longer she looked at him the more she wanted to kiss him. He made her feel different than anyone else had, than anyone else could. She leaned closer to him as her eyes flickered between his eyes and lips. Marley placed a gentle, slow kiss on his lips. When she pulled away, she was so shocked and embarassed that she stood up and walked back into the school before Jake could notice. She was angry at herself for kissing him. There was no way he liked her that way and she probably just ruined a friendship with someone she really cared about. Did she have to give in? No she didn't. So losing him would be her own fault. Marley ran. She ran until she made it across the school, outside, down the street her home was on and through her front door. By that time she was out of breath, she slid down the backside of the door the second it closed. She caught her breath but she still stayed in place, thinking of how she would eventually have to face Jake, whether she wanted to or not.

She got a long shower to calm her nerves and changed into some sweats and a t-shirt before she went to lay in her bed. Marley's mom came home around four and questioned Marley about why she didn't see her at lunch or after school. Marley just said that she wasn't feeling well and the nurse sent her home. At almost five thirty, her rang from her bedside table. She rolled over from laying on her back and grabbed her phone to check who it was. _Jake_. She started to feel nervous and her breath became quicker from just seeing his name and picture on her phone screen. Slowly, she pressed the answer button and put the phone up to her ear. "Hello?"

Jake was surprised to hear her voice, he thought she would've ignored his calls. _"Marley! You picked up. I, uh, I wanted to talk to you."_

"Why?"

Marley heard Jake take a deep breath on the other line before he said, _"Because of what happened earlier."_ like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She rolled onto her back again and sighed. "Jake, I don't know if that's a good idea."

_"Please. Can we just talk?"_

"Fine, talk."

_"Not on the phone. I want to see you in person. Meet me on the bleachers in half an hour?"_

"Sure."

_"Okay, bye."_

"Bye, Jake." Marley hung up the phone and stared up at her ceiling. He called and wanted to talk. That's a good thing right? What if he wants to meet up so he can tell her he doesn't feel the same way? Either way, their friendship was going to change, whether it be into a relationship or crumble to nothing. The only way to find out is to go. She got out of bed and put on a pair of jeans and a sweater, fixing her hair into something presentable before heading downstairs. "Marley where are you going?"

"Jake wanted to talk for a minute so I was going to go meet him."

"Okay, but be back here in an hour."

"Thanks, mom." Marley placed her phone in her pocket before she walked to the school.

When she got to the bleachers Jake was sitting in the same spot she was the other night when he found her drunk. It felt like a long time ago, a lot had happened since then and she couldn't believe that everything fit within a couple of days. She walked up to where he was and sat down, a little too far away. "Are you going to talk this time?"

Jake smiled a little at her. "Earlier, I meant what I said. About any guy being lucky to have you."

Marley's brow furrowed in confusion. "And..."

"And I didn't think that I would be. Lucky enough to have you, that is." Jake scooted a bit closer to her. "You kissing me did take me by surprise, but" He stopped speaking for a moment and looked as if he was trying to figure out what words to use.

"But what?" Marley hadn't even noticed that she had also taken a scoot towards him until their faces were so close.

"I don't know how to explain it."

"Look if you're rejecting me just come out and say it so I can go. Because I'd rather have it quick than have you drag it out." She looked into his eyes looking for a sign of emotion, but found at that moment he was very difficult to read. "I think I can show you better than I can tell you." The next thing Marley knew, he was kissing her and she was kissing him back, just like earlier. When they pulled away Marley stood up. "No, Jake. You deserve someone better. Someone who isn't broken."

Jake stood up and took her hand in his own. He shook his head and looked into her eyes. "If anything you are the one who deserves better. But, I want to be with you and I don't care what people think of you because I know who you are and that's all that matters."

"I'm afraid." Marley said as she let a tear escape her eye and roll down her cheek.

He wiped it away. "Of what?"

"Of getting hurt. I know that you'd never do what Ryder did to me but I-I'm still terrified of getting hurt again."

Jake took a deep breath as he listened to her speak. "I will _never_ to anything to hurt you."

Marley smiled as he spoke and pressed another soft kiss to his lips. "Okay."

"Okay?" Jake asked with a smile on his face.

"Yeah."

"I don't want this to end but I think we should get you home." Marley nodded and took his hand as she made her way down the bleachers. When they got to her door, Jake was a little sad to have to leave her but he didn't want to get her in trouble with her mom. So he asked to take her out on a date and when she agreed he was ecstatic but he kept it on the inside. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before she walked into the house.

Marley went into her room to think. He liked her back. He liked her back! She didn't even for a second believe he was like Ryder, he was different. Ryder was some idiot looking for sex, but Jake wasn't. Jake knew how to make her feel better, he knew how to make her feel beautiful and cared for. He made her feel safe, and she liked all of that about him.

The next day at school, Marley found Jake at his locker. He walked her to her first class and departed with a kiss. They spent a lot of time together over the next couple a days and after a few dates they became official. She was his girlfriend and he was her boyfriend. Every once in a while, Marley would feel bad about herself because of Kitty or Ryder, but Jake was there to help her and he made sure that instead of drinking. She was happy and she wouldn't change a thing.


End file.
